Intrinsic fluorescence is well suited for detection of biological materials due to its high sensitivity, real-time feedback, lack of sample contact, and the capability to quickly scan large areas. Furthermore, it requires no reagents that may destroy, change or contaminate samples. Since fluorescence emission intensity (the detected signal indicating the presence of biological material) is proportional to the excitation intensity, weak signals can be observed by using high-power illumination. (The area that can be examined is likewise determined by the power output of the excitation source.) Detection of biological materials is possible as there is a wide variety and high concentration of biological components that exhibit intrinsic fluorescence: NAD[P]H and other reduced pyridine nucleotides (RPN), lumazines, pterins, flavoproteins, and other secondary metabolites. Nucleic acid polymers (DNA/RNA), proteins and various lipids exhibit higher energy fluorescence, making these markers potentially useful for the detection of fingerprints. Fluorescent metabolic breakdown products are found in urine. The heme component of blood (fresh and oxidized), as well as dried semen, also displays unique fluorescence patterns. The difference in intrinsic fluorescence emission of biological materials can be differentiated. Since many biological materials exhibit similar or indistinguishable components, simultaneous excitation of a sample with multiple energies characteristic of the excitation for fluorescent components with the subsequent collection and detection of emitted, reflected and scattered light energies (both associated with and independent of the fluorophores, respectively) is fundamental for the detection of biological material on a surface by the method described herein.
The detection of biological materials on real world sample surfaces is made more reliable by the aforementioned method for two reasons. First, the simultaneous excitation of biological material by multiple excitation energies (or sequential excitation by single energies) and ensuing coincident detection of numerous fluorescence signals reduces the chance of interference, as the probability of an interference source duplicating the characteristics of numerous fluorophores is extremely small. Second, the relative quantities of the intrinsic metabolites, and thus of the resulting fluorescent signals, have been found to fall within biologically determined ranges. Analysis of the signals is achieved with a method capable of two things: (1) separating the detected fluorescent signals originating from any biological material present from interferences or background signals and/or scattered excitation signals, and (2) a requirement that the intensities of the signals from various fluorescent components fall within expected ranges. Thus, the basis for the detection of biological materials is comprised of the following steps: first, excitation of a sample either simultaneously with multiple excitation energies or sequential excitation of multiple excitation energies characteristic of intrinsic fluorophores of biological material; second, the subsequent collection of the numerous individual fluorescence signals (associated with the maxima and minima of the emissions of these excited fluorophores); and finally, analysis of the collected signals with a method capable of removing background fluorescence (signals not originating from fluorescent components of the biological material, reflected excitation light nor scattered excitation light), reflected excitation signals, and scattered excitation signals; and comparing the relative fluorescence signal magnitudes of the expected ranges.
Long-established technologies and methods used for biological material collection from surfaces involve direct sampling with swabs or tape and/or visualization after treatment with reagents. Often the reagents used to visualize latent biological material may destroy, change or contaminate the sample. Since this invention employs detection of multiple intrinsic fluorophores from biological material, coupled with an analysis of the relative amount of signals due to these fluorophores, it can not only determine the presence of biological material, but is also capable of differentiating between various types of biological material. The invention disclosed herein uses no reagents, requires no physical contact with the sample, and delivers ‘real-time’ results.
Methodologies for detection of specific forensic biological materials include the use of antibodies (U.S. Pat. No. 6,605,705), antibodies coupled with enzymes and substrates (U.S. Pat. No. 6,696,569), and antibodies in strip assays utilizing fluorescent dyes (U.S. Pat. No. 6,686,167). Other methodologies use fluorescence to visualize DNA, protein or other biological material after addition of dyes (U.S. Pat. No. 6,512,236). Light sources are used to illuminate and detect biological material via fluorescence with high power excitation sources (U.S. Pat. RE37,136) and with imaging methods (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,392,238 and 6,636,701).
In allowed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/054,419 by Powers and Lloyd, which is incorporated herein by reference, there is disclosed a method and apparatus for the detection of microbes on non-living surfaces and samples in which samples are exposed to electromagnetic radiation of numerous specific energies capable of exciting fluorescence from various metabolites, cofactors and cellular and spore components. Thus, the microbial cells and spores to be sampled (and more specifically the excited metabolites, cofactors and other cellular, viral and/or spore components) contained therein emit fluorescence that can be measured. The collected fluorescence signals (associated with the minima and/or maxima of the signals emitted from the cellular/viral/spore components) are analyzed with a method capable of (1) removing any background or reflected/scattered excitation signal, and (2) comparing the relative fluorescent signals of metabolites, cofactors and spore components to known physiological ranges.
Whereas the aforementioned patent application by Powers and Lloyd depends upon simultaneous excitation of multiple microbial components, the present invention utilizes either simultaneous or sequential excitation of multiple fluorophores associated with biological materials coupled with an algorithm that subtracts the detected signals due to the scattered and/or reflected excitation energies. This difference in design and methodology makes the current invention better able to detect and discriminate between wider varieties of biological materials on non-living surfaces relative to other fluorescence methods. The current invention is superior in its detection of biological materials as the detection of multiple intrinsic fluorophores reduces the probability of false positive results due to background interferences. The detection of biological materials with the foregoing method and apparatus will have uses in crime scene evidence collection, sterilization verification, validation of cleaning procedures, food production and preparation safety, and emergency response teams tasked with the detection, decontamination and protection of public infrastructure facilities.
Law enforcement agencies and crime laboratories are severely limited in their ability to detect and identify biological samples at crime scenes and on evidence substrates (types of surfaces). Many agencies literally rely on sight or touch to confirm the presence of suspected biological evidence. The impact of these limitations is manifest in the following risk factors: valuable evidence samples are overlooked, worthless samples are collected and analyzed, viable evidence samples are contaminated, enhancement techniques destroy or alter evidence samples, hazardous samples are improperly collected and packaged, crime scene personnel come in physical contact with biological hazards, crime scene personnel are exposed to a hazardous environment, search and examination procedures are time consuming and agency and/or laboratory resources are wasted. Evidence response teams and first responders are also the first at risk because of frequent contact with scenes, victims, and other evidence that may contain biological fluids. These officers usually arrive at the crime scene when the evidence is least contaminated, yet they (1) lack the technology to locate suspected biological fluids, and (2) cannot capture images of fluids in their actual condition or at their original location. It is an object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus for use in the detection, identification and imaging of biological evidence.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus for use in the detection of biological contamination on food preparation surfaces in which the fluorescence of biological material fluorescent components are excited by electromagnetic radiation to distinguish between the varieties of biological materials, allowing contamination on food preparation surfaces to be determined without contact with said surface.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus that can be used in the validation of cleaning procedures. As a specific object of the invention, the method and apparatus can be used to find biological material contamination inexpensively and rapidly in, for example, health-care facilities, hotel rooms, and public buildings.